Someday I'd like to attend this show...
Internet Telephony Ready for Plug-And-Play 1 hour, 34 minutes ago Technology - Reuters Internet Report By Niclas Mika HANOVER, Germany (Reuters) - Phone calls over the Internet -- free or at drastically lower rates -- are no longer the domain of the technically savvy, with companies starting to offer plug-and-play solutions. When Chou En-Sung, technical director of Taiwanese firm Telewell Electronic, wants to call home from the CeBIT technology fair here, he connects a handset made by his firm to a laptop and places the call over the Internet. "No fixed phone line necessary," he says. Similar services, such as Skype, have attracted millions of users with the promise of free calls, but require a computer that is running, forcing users to take calls from their PC. The next generation of devices that use the so-called voice over IP (VoIP) technology will be easier to use and work with cordless phones, but will be sold bundled with services by Internet providers or telecoms operators, manufacturers said. Technology group Siemens (SIEGn.DE) is showing an inconspicuous white box at CeBIT that allows users to place calls with a traditional cordless phone as well as surfing the Internet wirelessly, all over one broadband connection. French wireless technology firm Inventel has a similar product that comes with a handset, and is likewise sold only to operators that want to offer voice over IP services. The idea is to offer the same convenience as traditional cordless phones, but services beyond wireless Internet access and phone calls, said Inventel marketing director Cedric Hutchings. "Operators can push content to the phone, for example sell logos or ring tones, or allow users to search for a phone number in the directory," he said. "People started to use voice over IP on economic grounds. You subscribe and make calls cheaper or for free, but sometimes at low quality. The next step is to offer the same experience as a high-quality cordless phone." For Internet providers, VoIP offers new revenue possibilities, while it can be a first step for telecoms operators toward "triple play" services -- offering Internet, phone calls and television all over one broadband connection. Several manufacturers have voice over IP boxes that act as a hub for an internal telephone system, geared at small companies. Germany's snom launched a small box that works with special IP phones. Inside, a miniature computer handles outgoing and incoming calls and provides Internet access. "Adopting voice over IP makes sense for a small company that builds its infrastructure from nothing, or for big corporations that want to quickly wire up a new office," said snom sales manager Oliver Wittig. But even big organizations can benefit from making the switch. The local government of Birkenfeld in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate switched in mid-2003. "Government auditors always told us we're spending too much on maintenance of the telephone system," said Wolfgang Bohrer, who is responsible for the authority's infrastructure. The costs were high because the old system required outside technicians to make changes, Bohrer said. "The last time when 40 people moved offices, we saved 15,000 to 20,000 euros ($20,000-$27,000)." ----------------------------------------------- Andrew Kooiman P.Eng. Manager, Transport and Infrastructure Engineering Sprint Canada [EMAIL PROTECTED] 416.773.3497 -----Original Message----- From: Fulko Hew [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2005 6:18 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [on-asterisk] Asterisk book and CD Here is a blurb from Linux Weekly Newa, for those who don't read it: Signate's Asterisk Book and CD Set Looking to set up your own VOIP private branch exchange? Signate is offering a bood and CD set which includes a Linux distribution and the Asterisk PBX system. http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?bw.030805/250675342 --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
